Cindy had a Little Llama...

(or should we say big llama) who danced around the floor.  And everywhere the llama went, the janitor had a chore.  (Dave's poetry composition)

Warning:  Be sure to read this entire post.  The best part is at the end...and no fair skipping straight to the end.

We know you've just been dying to know how our caramel corn went over with the missionaries at the zone conference this week.  We pretty much hit a home run.  We didn't hear from a single missionary that they didn't like it.  We knew the gringo missionaries (5) would, but we weren't sure how the latino missionaries would like it and they are the majority (21).  We even had a pair of sister missionaries (Latinas) bring in their cook (the younger missionaries pay a pension and it includes room & meals) so she could get the recipe and make it for them.  They just couldn't get enough.  The only problem?  Not sure how we are going to top this in the future.

Our supervisor, Carlos Hale, returned from the states this week.  He and Dave hit it off right away.  They have a lot in common, top on the list is their love for motorcycles and hands-on repairs and projects.  He introduced us to a non-profit organization, Fundet.  What an amazing mission they have.  It was started by a former state side missionary who wanted to help the latino people.  He started in Guatemala and has expanded to Ecuador & Peru.  It is an organization that helps church members by providing totally free technical training and placement into jobs that are needed, such as auto repair, call center positions, refrigeration, and other technical positions.  We were just blown away with the great opportunity this presents to those willing to make the effort.

We had our first trip out of the city this week.  We went with Carlos to a nearby town (2.5 hours away), Sicuani, to train a newly called self-reliance stake specialist.  We pretty much were just there to observe and met the brother who will be working the program there.   Here are some photos from the drive up there.  It reminded us of central Utah.  Remember, this is the dry season currently so there is a lot of brown.

The town made Cindy think of what she remembers her time in El Salvador being like.  It is a much smaller, more rural setting.  The town was swarming with transportation called mototaxis.  See below for an example.

These are 3 wheel motorcycles with canvas coverings.  The driver sits on the motorcycle and there is a bench in the back to carry passengers and then a very small trailer behind to hold packages, etc.  They passed down the street in droves as we waited to get into the chapel to do our training. 

Here are a few other modes of transportation seen on the streets of Secuani.

We also saw our first fire station here in Peru. Hey, Ray, this picture is for you and the fire guys. For such a small town to have such a big station was surprising.

The biggest surprise of all in Sicuani, however, was meeting a teenager who was playing an electrical keyboard in the chapel.  He was probably about 15-16 years old.  He was playing classical pieces by Beethoven all from memory.  It was pretty impressive.  As we visited with him, we learned he has taught himself to play using the internet.  He does know how to read music and can play a lot of the hymns.  He even played a Beatle song when he learned that David liked George Harrison/Beatles.

Cindy is starting to explore the CRM system that tracks all the PEF recipients in the Cusco mission.  There are 245 previous recipients.  Of those only 11 were listed in the Sicuani stake.  Cindy had hoped to get some information about these individuals, as none of them are current in paying back their loan.  This is a major problem here and something we are going to have to work on improving.  She was able to learn a bit more about them, but not much.  We hope as we get to know them and show true interest and concern we will know how to motivate them to keep their promise and diligently pay back the money they used to get an education.

We are learning that the internet service is not very reliable here.  That is part of the problem as regular contact with the PEF recipients has not been happening.  Regular contact and communication is crucial to keeping the program moving forward.  The ideal is a once a month contact to all the PEF candidates.  Sounds like working for Craig Swapp doesn't it?  However, keeping the records current is a struggle.  So many change their telephone number frequently and email is not too reliable either.  We are praying for inspiration and help in reaching as many as we can as often as we can.

We have the materials printed for the Daily Dose English classes and it looks like we will be starting those up at the end of the month.  We need to get the word out and students signed up.  Our plan is to offer three classes to start with all on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  A 9 am class, a 7 pm class and an 8:15 class.  Each class only goes 20-30 minutes with a maximum of 10 students per class.  There seems to be a lot of interest.  Commitment and actual attendance may be a whole different story.  But we are excited to begin.

We had some spare time on Friday afternoon so we went exploring and found some pretty interesting sights.  Here are some of our photos.  We first explored some smaller passages that were lined with the Inca stone work and discovered an archeological site right in the middle of town.

 Cindy is standing next to the Inca stone.  On the other side is Spanish colonial stone.

 Here you can see where the inca stone ends and the Spanish colonial stone starts.

 The Spanish often times would build right on top of the Inca stones.

 Here are photos of the archeological dig sealed off from trespassing, but with glass walls so you can look at the ruins.  Below is another example of the inca stones on the bottom with the later stones built right on top of those.

We found ourselves at the main historical plaza, the Plaza de Armas.  We had seen it from a car at night but this was the first time we had walked around it.  It is really quite beautiful.  Multiple catholic churches from the Spanish colonial era, balconies with fancy woodwork, a large park area with a large fountain in the middle and a great view of the surrounding hills.  Here are some of the photos we took.

 You can see one of the churches behind Cindy and the other church behind David and the main central square.

Here are some close up shots of the architecture from the churches.  These churches are huge and tower above everything.

 

Here are some photos showing the picturesque balconies lining the square on the more modern buildings.

These buildings are filled with tourist shops and restaurants.  KFC, McDonalds, Starbucks are some of the names you would recognize that have shops here.  Off the plaza the older side streets are cobblestone and continue up the hill.

 

Here is a view from the high end of the plaza

 

 

 

We're pretty much sticking to in town sites since we learned that as soon as we have our DNI cards showing we are not tourist but religious representatives we will be able to enter the tourist sites at the same price they charge Peruvians.  Apparently, they even jack up the entry prices for tourists.

 

Here is the highlight of the week.  Saturday evening, the Cusco stake put on a dance festival, first ever.  They really went all out for this.  Each ward practiced and prepared two folk dance numbers, a regional dance and a national dance.  They rented the costumes for the dances and used this activity as a missionary tool to bring non-member friends and investigators to.  We danced with our ward for the regional dance they did, called Llameritas.  The fact that we were gringos dancing a folk dance of Peru apparently was a big hit.  So many people wanted our photos and to have their picture taken with us, it really surprised me.  I promised a video of the dance  but wasn't able to get it to post.  If interested in watching, send me an email and I'll see if I can send it as an email attachment. 



 

The different dance costumes were gorgeous.  Here is a sampling.

 

Dave & I in our Llameritos costumes.



These were my favorite dance costumes.  I thought they were so pretty.  On the right is the stake president's wife and next to her on the left is one of the members of the stake relief society president.  She has been a big help getting the news out about our English classes.

 

 

 

 

Here I am with one of the ladies from our ward.

This was my favorite regional dance.  Los Alamos ward is dancing.  They meet in the same building as our ward.  This dance reminded me a lot of square dancing, particularly the Virginia reel.

You can see the stake center in the background and they have a big cement area that is used for basketball and soccer.  We danced outside and it gets pretty cold here at nights.

 

 

This is Javier Caseres with his wife.  Javier is a service missionary in the Self-Reliance Center.  We work with him a lot.

 

This is Gladys Machado.  She is a volunteer in the Self Reliance Center.  She also teaches early morning seminary.  We really like her.  She works hard and has a great spirit about her.

 

Spiritual Thought for the Week:  Comes from a thought David shared with the missionaries in the zone conference we attended at the beginning of our week.

 

What we love, determines what we seek.  What we seek, determines what we think and do.  What we think and do, determines what we become.  - President Uchdorf.